Proves to be a major asset

Blues expect to win finals and while a lot of this year’s panel are young and inexperienced, Nally knows they won’t be allowed to get carried away by the big occasion.

‘You’re there to win, that’s it really. They don’t come around too often, so hopefully you can do the business. We lost the minor last year and that day on the pitch when we lost, it felt like we didn’t win anything before that. You just trained all year and then you lost in the final. So I don’t really want to go through that feeling again, because it wasn’t nice feeling.

‘But I think we’re peaking at the right time. We started slow enough, I think we lost four or five on the trot, but we haven’t really lost since. We have everyone back and Andy coming back was a big plus because he was injured at the start of the year.’

It’s been a big step up from minor to senior but despite a tough relegation battle Nally is enjoying the experience.

‘There’s a big difference from playing minor football and senior football. I didn’t play any Senior football, just came on once or twice so this is really my first year. It takes a while to get used to it. You could see that at the start of the season as well, there were three or four lads that came in in those first few games.’

Nally approved of appointing a manager from within and he reckons they made a great choice in former player Ronan Phillips.

‘I think it’s better to stay in the club. If lads have fallen out they’re always going to come back, but an outisder mightn’t really be too fussed at getting them back because he knows he’s only there for a few years.’

One of the biggest challenges the Blues face on Sunday will be breaking down the Gaels blanket defence and Nally knows how tough that can be.

‘It’s not nice playing inside against a system like that. You don’t get much ball, but I think you have to be patient - a nice early goal wouldn’t be too bad either! But, you just have to be patient and try to break them down and don’t rush anything, because if you rush something they can just catch you on the break. If they get a goal they’ll just sit there for the rest of the game. So I think it’s all about patience.

‘We’ve a few plans anyway, hopefully they go well.’